Re: Garry Schofield, expand SL to 14 teams : Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:51 am  

wrencat1873 wrote:

The big issue with increasing the number of clubs still boils down to TV revenue and it's fair to assume that, with the last restructure, either the RFL were knocked back by Sky or weren't brave enough to broker the subject.
Therefore, for the league to increase in size, it would necessitate the current 12 clubs agreeing to take a 15% reduction in central funding to accommodate the additional clubs, unless we expect them to come in and receive nothing and this is where the problem arises.
We have ben told that Toronto and to a lesser extent Toulouse will help the game attract more sponsors etc but this still remains to be seen.

Finally, would we be having this conversation if Wakefield or Salford were in peril ? I dont think so.

There is a strong argument, often played out on the VT, that clubs should be taking responsibility to generate more of their own income anyway - so 15% seems like a reasonable place to start?

Re: Garry Schofield, expand SL to 14 teams : Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:38 am  

bren2k wrote:

There is a strong argument, often played out on the VT, that clubs should be taking responsibility to generate more of their own income anyway - so 15% seems like a reasonable place to start?

Isn't this the problem though ?
As a sport, we shouldn't be contemplating cutting the clubs central funding by anything, let alone 15%.
Plus, by including Toronto and Toulouse as the additional clubs, there is a triple whammy here.
Reduction in funding, cost of travel/accommodation for the clubs plus the old favourite of reduced numbers of away supporters.
This would likely take 350/400k out of the pocket of each SL club and for what ?

Unless there was a significant uplift in the Sky deal, which seems very, very unlikely, I cant see ANY of the current SL clubs wanting this at all.
Cost without benefit is the road to ruin for any business.

Re: Garry Schofield, expand SL to 14 teams : Wed Jun 26, 2019 9:47 am  

wrencat1873 wrote:

Isn't this the problem though ?
As a sport, we shouldn't be contemplating cutting the clubs central funding by anything, let alone 15%.
Plus, by including Toronto and Toulouse as the additional clubs, there is a triple whammy here.
Reduction in funding, cost of travel/accommodation for the clubs plus the old favourite of reduced numbers of away supporters.
This would likely take 350/400k out of the pocket of each SL club and for what ?

Unless there was a significant uplift in the Sky deal, which seems very, very unlikely, I cant see ANY of the current SL clubs wanting this at all.
Cost without benefit is the road to ruin for any business.

I'm not suggesting it's a straightforward restructure - but I do think there's some merit in forcing clubs to be less reliant on central funding; and you're right to highlight the added financial burden of clubs outside the UK being included in SL. I think Toulouse would have a strong argument to be included on the same terms as Catalans, but Toronto should be required to offset that cost with a similar arrangement to the one they have now.

All of this is based of course on supposition, which sprung from the OP's original idea - which is highly unlikely to be adopted anyway!

Re: Garry Schofield, expand SL to 14 teams : Wed Jun 26, 2019 11:46 am  

ball-in-hand wrote:

I think 14 teams is the best number because it gives each team 13 home games and 27 fixtures with magic and no loop fixtures

Apart from the obvious Magic Weekend fixture, which still makes the whole thing farcical. You'd still play 1 team 3 times which could potentially skew the league. Not picking on any teams in particular but someone would have 3 fixtures against St Helens whilst someone else would have 3 fixtures against Hull KR which is hardly a fair competition.
Time for Magic weekend to be binned off if you want to go to 14 teams and just a straight home and away fixture list.

Re: Garry Schofield, expand SL to 14 teams : Wed Jun 26, 2019 12:19 pm  

Or each club giving up an home fixture and having 2 events where games are played at a neutral stadium to help the game grow in new areas?

Re: Garry Schofield, expand SL to 14 teams : Wed Jun 26, 2019 1:48 pm  

I know the issue is the amount of money available and having a player pool of sufficient quality but I’ve always liked the idea of two 10 team conferences. We could argue all day about who would be in each conference but, for starters, how about;

EAST WEST
Leeds Wigan
Wakefield Saints
Castleford Widnes
Hull F.C. Warrington
Hull KR. Toronto
Bradford Leigh
York Huddersfield
London Wales
Catalans Cumbria
Toulouse Salford/Manchester

Clubs in each conference play each other home and away (18 games) and play six teams from the other conference home or away (I don’t know if that’s actually possible but you get the drift) which gives 24 games in total. Championship is straightforward top 4 play off - E1 v W4, E2 v W3, W2 v E3, W1 v E4. Highest placed winners play lowest placed winners in SFs then on to Old Trafford. If you want P and R the bottom teams from each conference play off, loser is relegated (a “million pound” game, yippee). There are one or two issues to be sorted - Cumbria? Wales? - but not insurmountable